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Cobalt Nocturne Dust
Color detail

Cobalt Nocturne Dust

Blue · Hue 220
Metrics
S 26% · L 20%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white13.4:1AAon black1.6:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Cobalt Nocturne Dust (#262F40) belongs to the blue family — hue 220°, 26% saturation, 20% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-cobalt-nocturne-dust: #262F40;
  --colorarchive-cobalt-nocturne-dust-hsl: hsl(220, 26%, 20%);
  --colorarchive-cobalt-nocturne-dust-rgb: rgb(38, 47, 64);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

AuthoritativeIntellectualLuxurious
Common in

Defense · Aviation · Higher Education

Pairs well with

Gold for prestige, white for sharp readability, electric blue for energy

Design tip

Perfect for dark mode backgrounds and headers. Navy is softer than black and adds character. Pair with bright accents for contrast.

Cultural context ▶

Navy and midnight blue symbolize authority, intelligence, and tradition. The color of uniforms, institutions, and power.

Color Origins

Blue family

The most-loved color on the planet, and the most overused.

Heritage

Blue is one of the hardest colors for nature to make with pigment — and, historically, one of the most expensive to paint with. Ultramarine, ground from lapis lazuli mined in Afghanistan, could cost as much as gold in Renaissance Europe; Vermeer used it lavishly. Egyptian blue (the first synthetic pigment, ~3000 BCE) was lost for centuries and rediscovered in the 19th. Prussian blue (1704) quickly gave painters a cheap alternative to ultramarine; Yves Klein's IKB (1960) re-aristocratized blue.

Across cultures

In ancient Egypt blue was the color of the Nile and the heavens — sacred, protective. In China blue-and-white porcelain (qinghua) defined export ceramics for centuries. In Mediterranean traditions blue wards off the evil eye. In America, IBM's blue logo helped earn it the nickname 'Big Blue'; in Japan, indigo (ai) is the centuries-old workwear dye that became the ground tone of an entire textile tradition. Across the world blue is consistently rated the most-liked color — in one ten-country survey it led every other color by 8 to 18 points.

In the wild

Mark Zuckerberg has said Facebook is blue because he is red-green colorblind. Levi's blue is the natural color of indigo on cotton. Twitter Blue (#1DA1F2) defined social-media blue for years before the 2023 rebrand to X scrapped it. The blue checkmark, the blue link, the blue 'send' button — blue has become the default color of digital trust, to the point of being a UX cliché.

How it reads

Blue tends to recede — the eye focuses blue light slightly in front of the retina, which can make blue elements feel deep or distant. It reads as trustworthy, calm, corporate, and (at the cool end) cold. Light blues read airy and clinical; mid blues are the default for tech and finance; deep blues read as luxurious or naval. The omnipresence of blue in software is real: most enterprise UIs reach for it because it offends the fewest stakeholders, which is also the reason it can feel like the absence of a real choice.

This particular tone

A dim, atmospheric reading — closer to a colored shadow than a stated hue. Excellent as a near-black on dark UI or as a moody background.

Lightness band: At this depth the hue starts behaving like a neutral — it can substitute for black in many contexts while still carrying a faint chromatic temperature. It pairs especially well with off-whites and warm metallics.

Saturation band: The low saturation pulls this color toward earthen, vintage, or editorial palettes. It reads as confident and grown-up rather than playful, and it tolerates being used in large blocks without becoming visually noisy.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #262F40.

  • Supabaseneutral
    Surface · #2A2A2A
    →
  • Xiaohongshu 小红书neutral
    Slate Text · #333333
    →
  • JD.com 京东neutral
    Slate · #333333
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #262F40.

  • JapanIndigo (ai-iro 藍色)
    #22366E · Persicaria tinctoria fermentation dye
    →
  • Korea (Obangsaek)Obangsaek Black (흑 / heuk)
    #1F1F1F · North — water element, ink and lacquer
    →
  • BrazilAçaí Purple
    #3D1F4D · Euterpe oleracea berry
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using blue and color in design.

Brand & MarketingTechnology Brand Color Design: Trust, Intelligence, and the Blue ProblemColor PsychologyBlue Color Psychology in Branding: Why Every Bank and Tech Giant Chooses BlueDesign SystemsDesign Token Color Naming: A System That Scales

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Cobalt Shadow Dust
#35415A · hsl(220, 26%, 28%)
Darker companion
Cobalt Ink Dust
#1A212D · hsl(220, 26%, 14%)
Complementary counterpoint
Apricot Nocturne Dust
#403726 · hsl(40, 26%, 20%)
Analogous lead
Amethyst Nocturne Dust
#282640 · hsl(245, 26%, 20%)
Analogous echo
Azure Nocturne Dust
#263740 · hsl(200, 26%, 20%)
Triadic +120°
Garnet Nocturne Dust
#40262F · hsl(340, 26%, 20%)
Triadic +240°
Moss Nocturne Dust
#2F4026 · hsl(100, 26%, 20%)
Split-comp +150°
Ruby Nocturne Dust
#402A26 · hsl(10, 26%, 20%)
Split-comp +210°
Honey Nocturne Dust
#3C4026 · hsl(70, 26%, 20%)
Export preview
Base: Cobalt Nocturne Dust #262F40
Lighter companion: Cobalt Shadow Dust #35415A
Darker companion: Cobalt Ink Dust #1A212D
Complementary counterpoint: Apricot Nocturne Dust #403726
Analogous lead: Amethyst Nocturne Dust #282640
Analogous echo: Azure Nocturne Dust #263740
Triadic +120°: Garnet Nocturne Dust #40262F
Triadic +240°: Moss Nocturne Dust #2F4026
Split-comp +150°: Ruby Nocturne Dust #402A26
Split-comp +210°: Honey Nocturne Dust #3C4026

Compare

See how Cobalt Nocturne Dust compares side by side with related colors.

vsCobalt Shadow DustvsCobalt Ink DustvsApricot Nocturne DustvsAmethyst Nocturne DustvsAzure Nocturne DustvsGarnet Nocturne Dust

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Cobalt Nocturne Muted
#2A303C · hsl(220, 18%, 20%)
Nearby match
Cobalt Nocturne Soft
#222D44 · hsl(220, 34%, 20%)
Nearby match
Cobalt Ink Dust
#1A212D · hsl(220, 26%, 14%)
Nearby match
Cobalt Shadow Dust
#35415A · hsl(220, 26%, 28%)
Nearby match
Cobalt Nocturne Faint
#2E3138 · hsl(220, 10%, 20%)
Nearby match
Cobalt Ink Muted
#1D222A · hsl(220, 18%, 14%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AAA12.9:1
Apricot Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA12.9:1
Apricot Veil Muted
#FBFAF9
AAA12.9:1
Apricot Veil Dust
#FBFAF9
AAA12.9:1
Apricot Veil Soft
#FCFAF8
AAA13:1
Apricot Veil Clear
#FDFBF7
AAA13:1
Apricot Veil Vivid
#FEFBF6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#2A293B
Protanopia
#2A2A3C
Tritanopia
#273939
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Cobalt Nocturne Faint#2E3138 · hsl(220, 10%, 20%)Cobalt Nocturne Muted#2A303C · hsl(220, 18%, 20%)Cobalt Nocturne Dust#262F40 · hsl(220, 26%, 20%)Cobalt Nocturne Soft#222D44 · hsl(220, 34%, 20%)Cobalt Nocturne Clear#172A4F · hsl(220, 54%, 20%)Cobalt Nocturne Vivid#0D2659 · hsl(220, 74%, 20%)Cobalt Nocturne Bright#08255E · hsl(220, 84%, 20%)Cobalt Nocturne Pure#042362 · hsl(220, 92%, 20%)
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